Hannity: Bundy remarks 'beyond repugnant'

4/24/14 4:43 PM EDT

Sean Hannity called Cliven Bundy’s comments about black people being better off as slaves “beyond repugnant” on his radio show Thursday afternoon.

“His comments are beyond repugnant to me, they are beyond despicable to me, they are beyond ignorant to me,” the Fox News host said. “[P]eople for the right reasons who saw this case as government overreach, now are branded because of the ignorant, racist, repugnant, despicable comments of Cliven Bundy.”

Bundy, the rancher who is refusing to pay the more than $1 million in grazing fees he owes to the U.S. government, caused outrage from figures on the right and left Thursday with statements about African Americans who “never learned how to pick cotton” and may be better off as slaves. Hannity has been a Bundy supporter, having him on his Fox New show and calling for "proportionality" when it comes to the federal government dealing with Bundy.

Hannity lamented how Bundy’s words will now overshadow the original issue of government overreach surrounding Bundy, predicting that Democrats like Rep. Steve Israel, chair of the Democrtic Congresssional Campaign Committee, will run with Bundy’s comments.

“[T]hat confirms the ignorant view that Israel has of conservatives. Because every conservative I know does not support racism period,” Hannity said. “Like me they find it repugnant. Like me the find it despicable, they find it ignorant. But that’s not going to stop the Democrats.”

Hannity then went to counter that when liberals say such comments they “get a pass,” playing clips of Democrats who’ve gotten in trouble over race-related remarks.

“I hate the double standard because I find it repugnant from whoever it comes from,” he said.

Hannity urged all the “liberal media waiting for my comments breathlessly” to “hang in there” and wait for his larger discussion about government abuse later in the show, when he played clips of people who had been victims of “government run wild.”

“Government overreach is government overreach, separate and apart from the repugnant comments of Cliven Bundy,” Hannity said.